In production of a semiconductor device, fine processing by a lithography process is carried out. In the lithography process, when a resist layer on a substrate is irradiated with an ultraviolet light laser such as a KrF excimer laser and an ArF excimer laser, there has been a problem in which a resist pattern having a desired form is not formed due to an influence of standing wave caused by reflection of the ultraviolet light laser on a surface of the substrate. In order to solve the problem, a resist underlayer film (anti-reflective coating) provided between the substrate and the resist layer is used. Use of a novolac resin as a composition for forming the resist underlayer film is known. For example, Patent Documents 1 to 3 disclose a photoresist underlayer film-forming material containing a resin having a repeating unit obtained by formation of novolac from a compound having a bisphenol group or a bisnaphthol group.
A lithography process in which at least two resist underlayer films are formed and are used as a mask material to decrease the film thickness of a resist layer required due to miniaturization of a resist pattern has been also known (see Patent Documents 1 to 5). Examples of materials for forming the at least two layers include an organic resin (e.g., acrylic resin and novolac resin), a silicon resin (e.g., organopolysiloxane), and an inorganic silicon compound (e.g., SiON and SiO2). During dry etching using a pattern formed from a layer of the organic resin as a mask, the pattern needs to have dry etching resistance to an etching gas (e.g., fluorocarbon).